Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-09-10
soiIpIFIED DEWDROPS.

Saws a Paris letter to The Boston Her.
aid:
The other day had quite an inter
es,iug conversation with Nj. BOuchon-
Rrandcly, who was sent out to Ocean
scs by the government TO study what Is
The best means of preventing the ex-
bauslion of the beds of pearl-bearing
n sters in the French possessions. IL IS
opiuion now is that these oysters can
be cultivated in parks and by artificial
formulation by the same system that is
uow applied to the edible b,valves.
The pearl and mother pearl bearing
oysters are also uuiseXual, and they can
. be replcnisesd artifcially in water
from two 10 four feet deep; afterward
they cab be put in beds, where they are
10 develop to maturity.
Pearls have been classified into sever
al divisions. all of which depends on
their place of origin, on their brilliancy,
on the r color, on their form, on their
weight, and on their dimensions.
There are white, gray. black. lilac, pink.
blue, and yellow pearls. AS to form.
they are called ''barroques, or irreg-
ular shipped; pears or performed; !;
''br.,tons." or llatened at one end, and
virgins" or paragons, the perfectly
.ss round and most highly esteemed of all.
Few intrinsic things have a market val
tie more variable than pearls. as the
price depends largely on fashion and
The prevailing taste of the day. When
pearls arc small and ordinary in other
particulars, they are sold by the trade
by weight; but if they are of un-
usual size and beauty, they are sold
separately, according to their estimat.
cd value France owns. in the archi-
pelago of the Pacific ocean. the great
est pearl fishing grounds that exist
in the world, there being only eight
islands out of the eighty which compose
the group on which the pearl-bearng
oysters do not exist. Nevertheless,
these fisheries are very far from yield
ing the revenue which England gets
out of her Indian possessions. Not
only are the French islands less pro-
ductive, but an entcrely different sys-
tenn is observed. England either
works hers herself or farms them out
at heavy rental, while France permits
anybody to fish for pearls and makes
no attempt to collect tolls or other
charges. The Tuamota group of isl
ands have only been French possess
sion since 1880, and perhaps the home
government has not yet had time to
study the question and regulate it prop
erly. As the islands already yield
more than 600 tons of mother of pearl
annually, it is assumed, judging by
SIMILAR fisheries elsewhere, that the
pearls found each year ought to be
:. worth at least Sl2), ,0Ol, whereas the
estimated production is only about
$4,000. The beds have been SO badly
worked that it is indeed. rare to find
IN them. in any large quantities. such
magnificent pearls as those with which
Queen Pomare used TO adOrn her royal
person, and which. by the way. was
often not adorned with ANYTHING else
in the shape of covering. Most of the
pearls now found at Tahiti 90 to En-
gland, Germany and the United States,
to the detrement Of French jewelers.,
who employ by far the largest number
of fire pearls that are sold in the Eu-
ropean markets, the importation alone
in this country in 1884 being over 94,-
900 grammcs.
Natives of the French islands have
no industry that am aware of other
than that of diving for pearls and
hacre, and they are said to show re-
markable skill in their calling. All of
them, men, women and children, swim
like fishes, and they have acquired the
faculty of remaining several minutes
: Under water. There are three women
who are famous throughout the archi-
pelago as pearldivers; they will 90
down to the bottom in twenty-five faith
oms Of water and remain under as long
as three minutes before coming to the
surface again.
The pursuit is very dangerous by
reason of sharks, which swarm there
abouis. Divers generally rely on their
skill ard agiity as swimmers to escape
them, but when unable to do so. they
do not hesitate to fight. although the
conflict is unequal. and they rarely es-
cape muilat.on. M. Bouchon- -Brande-
ley told me OF woman whom he saw
who had lost an arm and one of her
breasts in just such IN encounter only
a fortnight before his departure. When
'hcse ace dents happen, panic seizes
the divers, and work is suspended dur
ing several days. Not only is the div
ng dangerous on this account, but it
Is also one of the severest trades which
mankind follows. At the opening of
the season Divers are forced to take
precautions of all sorts, the first and
most important being not to 90 down
100 often during the same dag. A neg
leot of this rule produces hemorrhages
ana congestion Of the lungs; but as he
gets more and more used to the work he
can VIC as often as he likes without
any immediate evil results. though. il